Live aboard fee kept at $50

Robert Monteith

June 18, 2009.

The Petersburg City Council decided not to lower harbor live aboard fees on Monday. The proposal, which would have dropped rates from $50 to $35, failed in a split vote. The rate decrease was first proposed by Councilor Melinda Hofstad, who said she brought the issue before the council at the request of a harbor resident. She also proposed to nix the $20 fee for each additional person living aboard a vessel. The issue was one of only a few that garnered any debate on Monday as two members of the harbor board testified on both sides of the issue.

Harold Medalen told the council that he had been a live aboard for around 15 years and was familiar with the type of resident living aboard their vessel.

“Some of the poorest people in town lived on boats and probably still do. On top of paying moorage on their boat and paying for electricity, they also have to pay to live on the boat they own. I never had to because I was a commercial live aboard. I always thought that was a little bit unfair,” he explained.

Medalen represented the minority of the harbor boards opinion, however. Without him present, the board unanimously recommended that the council keep the current rates intact.

The harbor boards chair, Kurt Wohlhueter, said the fees discouraged detrimental vessels from tying up in Petersburg.

“The last three out of four boats that sank in the harbor were live aboards. Two out of the four couldn’t afford to have them razed,” he explained. “Our employees razed them because they were a detriment. I don’t know how we get compensated for that. You can go ahead and send everybody who is living on pork and beans a bill, but you can’t get blood out of a turnip. I think $50 is a very reasonable fee. It might even keep some of those people that should have no business being down in the harbor on a boat, that can’t afford to keep it pumped out and afloat, maybe out of the harbor.”

Hofstad said her concern was that keeping track of who was living on what boat would be an invasive practice.

“How do we count how many people are living aboard? How do we get those numbers without getting pretty invasive about where people live?” she asked.

Wohlhueter said harbor staff are generally knowledgeable enough about people with a constant presence in the harbor to know how many people were on a live aboard. He also said they generally asked a series of questions about the issue when a new boat comes in.

His testimony was enough to persuade Mayor Al Dwyer and Councilors Lee Corrao and Ed Sarff to vote down the proposed fee decrease. Councilors Hofstad, Bob Nilsen, and Sara Stoner voted in favor.

Other business conducted by the council included:

• The city council approved a property tax levy of $2,621,134, down slightly from the current fiscal year’s levy of $2,621,797.

• Councilor Mark Jensen was appointed the council representative to the motor pool committee.

• An ordinance allowing long-term parking behind the community cold storage for $1 a day was amended to include a 14-day maximum. That ordinance passed in its first reading.

• Up to $3 million in general obligation bonds were approved for the electric utility to purchase a backup diesel generator.

• A $10,000 grant was given to the Petersburg Arts Council for upgrading the appearance of the Petro Marine dock.

• The council approved a concept development plan for a boat haul out facility at Scow Bay.